Spam Shredder 1.5

Pros:User-friendly interface.Cons:Slows e-mail downloads significantly. Preview window is difficult to use. Bottom Line:Retrieving good mail from the spam bin is awkward, and Spam Shredder 1.5 put enough of it in there that you might want to wait for 2.0.

Webroot's Spam Shredder installs as a local POP3 server, filtering the mail from your actual POP3 server. It doesn't matter which e-mail client you use, as long as your account is POP3-based. As a side benefit, it can delete blacklisted e-mail right on the server, without ever downloading a copy locally. The deleted message is replaced by a dummy to avoid a mismatch in the expected message count.

We found that Spam Shredder's processing significantly slowed e-mail downloads. Where Outlook Express downloaded 450 messages in under 2 minutes and Outlook took about 3 minutes for the same batch, Spam Shredder took over 25 minutes. One feature that slowed things down slightly is the product's ability to perform a DSBL check. (The Distributed Server Boycott List is a shared list of servers that are known to send spam deliberately or are open relays exploited by spammers.) Turning off the Perform DSBL check option did seem to speed things up.

The user interface, which is separate from the e-mail client, is spare and easy to understand, with a minimal set of options to configure. Blocked messages are held in an internal quarantine queue which you must review frequently to keep manageable. When you rescue good e-mail from quarantine, the filtering engine adjusts to improve future accuracyand you can also whitelist the sender.

The preview window for reviewing quarantined messages is tiny, lacks a scroll bar, and displays all message headers above the message text, which makes it hard to use. Also, when you delete or release a message, the list scrolls back to the top, so it's hard to review systematically. The Delivery Log lists messages that were released to the client, giving the user an option to blacklist senders of any messages that were released in error. But no preview is available for delivered messages, so it may be necessary to match up the subject or sender with spam messages found in the e-mail client.

Spam Shredder let very little spam through, but it flagged 9 percent of our undeniably good mail as spam. And, as noted, rescuing misfiled good mail is an awkward process. In addition, it significantly slowed downloading of e-mail. Wait for the next version of this product.

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Automatic Renewal Program: Your subscription will continue without interruption for as long as you wish, unless
you instruct us otherwise. Your subscription will automatically renew at the end of the term unless you authorize
cancellation. Each year, you'll receive a notice and you authorize that your credit/debit card will be charged the
annual subscription rate(s). You may cancel at any time during your subscription and receive a full refund on all
unsent issues. If your credit/debit card or other billing method can not be charged, we will bill you directly instead. Contact Customer Service